Ackey Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 I thought people might like to know that the 'short term' or 'pay day' loans such as those offered by Wonga.com are now illegal in 17 US States and counting. It's not something I've ever considered using and I do actually know people who have... all I'll say is that if the notoriously lenient yanks have banned it there's probably reason to be cautious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimsleftfoot Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 I thought people might like to know that the 'short term' or 'pay day' loans such as those offered by Wonga.com are now illegal in 17 US States and counting. It's not something I've ever considered using and I do actually know people who have... all I'll say is that if the notoriously lenient yanks have banned it there's probably reason to be cautious. 261% apr - thats what one of the payday loans places were advertising on TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garcon Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 It was alot more than that Jim. Can't remember the name of the company but the main bridging loan advert I've seen was an equivalent APR of over 2500% (yes, two thousand five hundred). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ackey Posted July 15, 2010 Author Share Posted July 15, 2010 261% apr - thats what one of the payday loans places were advertising on TV. You missed a number - 2651% is the rate I've seen quoted. All those I've seen exceed 2000%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlayItLivo Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 It's because its only a short term loan, thats why the annual interest is so high. If you pay it back on the agreed date you should be fine. Although a couple of years ago my mate used one of them and didn't pay it back, they couldn't touch him because he did it over the internet and didn't sign anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oafc0000 Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 It is a service... Take it or leave it ? As long as they are upfront about costs then I see no issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garcon Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 As usual, restricting such loans is more about protecting the terminally stupid from themselves than it is about the legality of the loans themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddog Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 As usual, restricting such loans is more about protecting the terminally stupid from themselves than it is about the legality of the loans themselves. On a similar note, I've worked with quite a few adults with learning disabilities (some quite evidently so, as well) who have got stung by brighthouse. Not one of them has the concept of money enough to be able to understand the daylight robbery they're signing up to. This amounts to financial abuse of very vulnerable people. Not sure there's much legal protection around this, despite people not having the mental capacity to understand what they're signing up to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oafc0000 Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 As usual, restricting such loans is more about protecting the terminally stupid from themselves than it is about the legality of the loans themselves. One should point out that these are legitimate companies follows FSA rules... The alternative "companies" collect with baseball bats and don't really care about the FSA... Protecting people can be giving them access to these type of services... Sometimes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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